Current collector



Sept. 9, 1952 J. E. TONG ETAL 2,610,263

CURRENT COLLECTOR Filed March 22, 1949 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 vavrozs Jazzy 5. 70m MIKE M-"lS/LA-j Ali 0/: m .25

, Patented Sept. 9, 1952 N memos j R. a "and Mike Menu-es,- osnuaa, 1 'd lon'g asSignorto International Minerals da lfihemical Gmoration,:a corpora- I:

tioniof-Newmork -2 (orator-.45?)

-- "This invention relates toa cu rent cdllector for trolley-operated vehicles wherin the current is supplied by twopnmore overheaid' vvires, It lhefpola -iri turn, is attachedto-a sprin .,;has particular reference to curren't-co eating as- -semblies usedjon' min ing eh les s'irn il'ar the trolley pole is placed in its fitting om t-h fveheaW-duty equipment wherein j no-1 *the 'tension el plied 'bythe spring ho the "pole and two or moreco'l-lectingmemberssuch 'cur rent collectorassembly on the othery-end of as wheels or-sho'es-are employed." 1 the trolley poleagainst "the over-head trjoll'ey I, Theuse of trolleyaoperatedvehicle coltions 'such as mining: limited heo diificulty experienced in maintaining cont'ini-i'ous :kcontact betweenthe *cunrent co'llector and" the overhead wires which supply the source ei 'electr i'city necessary "to operate the vehicl'ej The A (primary reason for thedifiiculty in maintaining 1 terposrn'g a sleeve "bearing "a-s sembly'fbetween the continuous contact with the overhead wires-is due bar pi irlmcontiu'cting"material and the trolley Ito the fact that the vertical adistances" between -po1e. Contactby the 1 current collector ass'eiiflcly beach of the overhead wires and-the'roaElbed-cr is thus continuouslyrnaintained with-theeven t a e ti awe th w re in t'urn', is connected to' the vhicl'e! Y Thus, when Ltrackovenwhioh the vehicle inust 'tr avel are unhe'ad'tr'olley w'ifr'es even though the *veitica dis-- -:equal. This may be due to a variety" o'f factors" =tainde between each of the overhead trolley itsuchuia Jthe 'unequ'al tension th the -overhead and-"the roa'dbed-is'unequal at any given peint.

fwiresluneveness'bf tlre roofo fthedr ift or cross- -Thextent'ofthi's vertical moyemem--" limited wcut supportingthe "wires/ or the rou'g'hness of i by a bar extendingbe'tween two lugsx V l the aterrain: over which the vehicle -"must travl. and lugs are 3 respectively termed torsion stop ilihiswesult generally ob'tains e-verrthough the bar and-" orsioii control lugs? i he-distance current collectoris initiallyheld'against the wire e la'tter maybe made variahle' theremy means 0f tension supplied: by a" spring onthe'current collector assembly- '0- neeted:ifromthevehicle directly to the trolley v erticalar c-o'r any desired'lenQth. 'llhe ypo'le icarrying the current collectcr. "I'he result length of the verti'c'al arc"may-also=be va (i by also obtains even'though the contacting members varyingthe width o'f"the torsion stop-ban are-allowed'to 'tuxin in a plane substantially hor- 4 FOrQa clearer understanding of this invention izontal to theearth. This latter feature, howand the attainment of itsobjectsreference'rnay ever, must beembodied in'a current collector asf-be had to the following tletaileddescription and semblytoenable continuouscontact tobe mainthe accompanying drawingsflin which l igurel tained while the trolley-operated tvehicle is- -is a plane viewoffthe app'aratusfwith the secrounding.,a curve or travelingother than in a 't'ion' l' ine'numbers z to i"indicatingthe'viewsrepsubstantiallystraightline; Thecontacting eleresented by 'the remaining figures. Figure 2 is mentslmust remain substantially parallel to a a vertical section through the" section lirie 2 2 .plane; drawn between the overhead wires order fiof Fi-g-ure 1. Figure 3 is a cr oss section through fallow-contact tobemaintained; it '40 th'e 's'ection1ine3 3 of Figure 1 the bearing wc'lhei 'iprincipalwobject o'fthi's' 'inveritionis' to lwhichhllow's vertical rotary-motion'o'f the eonprovide a current collector for trolley-operated r tact members. Figure 4 is an'endvie-w from the vehicles which will remain in continuous con- *liollow metalshaft which attaches "toa 'trolley tact with overhead trolley wires even though the #poleKnot shown) as illustiated" by 's'e'cti'onfiine 'vertica-l distances'betwe eaclijo'f thfo verhead' 'ofF-igure lr i "wires and the roadbed over 'w'hich thavehicle b. -As shown in Figures 1 and 2, themetatllicctinoperates are unequal at any given point. ducting shoes 5 and 6, having inner surfaces A further object of this invention'is to prowhich are concave, serve as Contact members. vide a current collector for trolley-operated min- Those skilled in the art will readily perceive that ing and similar heavy-duty vehicles which will although the inherent shape of the metal shoes is remain in continuous contact with the overhead varied, the principle of this invention may still be trolley wires while upward pressure is applied to employed. Therefore, it is notintended to limit the collector which is in contact with said wires. this invention to the shape of these contact mem- By means of the present invention, the curbers as previously described except that they rent collector, consisting of two metal shoes atshould be of the shape most desirable for main taining' contact with the overhead wires. The metal shoes are attached to a bar 1 made of nonconducting material such as wood at a distance of approximately that between the overhead trolley wires. The bolts 8 and 9 and nuts 26 used to fasten the shoes to the wooden bar also serve as terminalsfor :the wires which are led Y through the ports ["0 and l l, in the shoes, down the trolley pole, and to the motor of the vehicle.

As shown in Figures 1 and 2, the noncOnduct; ing bar 1 is pivotally fastened at its center to The foregoing description is intended merely as an illustration of the principle involved and not in any way a limitation thereon. Having fully described the invention, what is desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. A current collector for supplying electrical current and adapted-wto contact; two overhead wires for trolley, equippedlvehicles which coma metal shank 12 by means of a bolt 25 which is 3 substantially smaller in diameter than that of Thus, the bar... is allowed to freely pivot in a position substan-ji the hole through which it passes.

tially horizontal to the earth. Several modifications of this feature will occur to those skilled inthe art, such as replacing the bolt and hole prises, two metal conducting shoes whose contact surfaces are concave, secured to a bar of nonelectrical conducting material and spaced at a distance substantially equal to that distance betweenthe overhead wires, said bar being connected at its approximate center to spaced shank members bya pivotal connection, a trolley pole,

a-sleev'e: bearing positioned to permit rotation .in the verticalplane having one member connected 'to said pole and the member free-tothrough which it passes with a steel shaft andl'i:

a bearing. -Bolt 25 is passed through the bar I and ans-shaped shank IS. A metal collar 14 A is fastened between the aforesaid metal shanks ,-by means of set screws l5 and Hi. This connection may also be made by welding or similar means. p

. The metal collar l4, along with the collector ..,assembly thus far described, is left free to rotate in a plane substantially vertical to the earth on fa sleeve bearing 1! as illustrated in Figures 1, 2, and 3. The bearing rides on one end of a stationary metal shaft [8 which is welded or connected by other means at a slight angle to a hollow metal shaft 19. The hollow metal shaft .19, in turn, is afiixed to a wooden trolley pole L O.- The unit comprising the metal-collar l4,

sleeve bearing l7, stationary metal shaft I8, and

- the hollow metal shaft I 9 is designated in the claims asthe sleeve bearing assembly.

The circular motion of the collector assembly in a plane substantially vertical to the earth is limited by means of a torsion stop 2| which projects from metal shank l 2 and/orrmetal collar I! of the collection assembly between two metal torsion control lugs 22 and 23 located on the ;hollow metal shaft l9. By this device, the col- -le ctor assembly may rotate in the verticalposition only until the torsion stop 2| --strikes one 1 Or. the other torsion control lugs 22 and 23. The distance through which the collector assembly may rotate is thus controlled by the distance be-,

tween these torsion control lugs or bythe width of the torsion stop bar, or both. InrFigure 4, the position of the torsioncontrol lugs 22 and 23 are shown permanently ailixed to the steel shaft; however, this distance may be made variable by bolting the lugs through slots in the hollow metal shaft l9 referred to previously. The torsion stop 2| is shown centered between the torsion control lugs, both in Figures 1 and 4.

Thus, when the current collector assembly is held .in an operating position against the overhead wires, continuous contact is maintained even though the vertical distance of each of the overhead wires and the roadbed is unequal, since the vertical movement of the current collector com-: 0

.pensates for this difference in vertical distance.

file of this patent;

V Numberrotate. connected to said shank members and torsion stop means affixed to the member of said sleeve hearing which is free to rotate and extending between torsion control lugs positioned on the nonrotatable portion of said sleeve bearing.

2. A current collector for supplying electric current and adapted to contact two overhead wires for trolley-equipped vehicles, which comprises two metallic conducting shoes, whose contacting surfaces are concave, secured to a bar of nonelectrical conducting material and spaced at a distance substantially equal to that distance between the overhead wires, said bar being: fastened at its approximate center intermediatea straight shank and an S -shaped shank-by means of a bolt ,whose diameter is substantially smaller than the hole in the center of the'nonconducting material through which the bolt passes, said steel shanks being aifixed to a metal collar which houses a sleevev bearing, the interiorsurfaces of .which ride on one end of a nonrotating steel shaft, the other end of said steel shaft being connected to a trolley pole, therebymaintaining said shoes in spaced relationship substantially parallel to the overhead wires and permittingvertical ad- ,justment of said metal shoes with relation 'to overhead wires, limiting said vertical adjustment ,.by means of a torsion stop baraflixed to .the .-collar of the sleeve bearing and extending between torsion control lugs aifixed to the nonrotatable portion of, the sleeve bearing assembly.

JERRY E. TONG. MIKE MOBILES.

REFERENCES CITED 7 The following references are of record in the UNITED STATES PATENTS [Name Date 887,691 Potter May 12,1908 1,416,045 Matthes May 16, 1922 1,509,521- Matthes ,,Sept. 23; '1924 FOREIGN PATENTSI' V Nu mber T Country ,Dte' v 12,211 1 Great Britain 1897 3 24,016 Great Britain' Oct. 1909 

